Lab Zero has been hard at work on Limited Run Games’ physical release of Skullgirls.

The bulk of Lab Zero’s work is done: the manual and packaging are complete and ready to be printed.

I think you’ll agree that Brady outdid himself on the manual:

Additionally, the PS4 and Vita lobbies and spectating are stable, and, after several months of painful iteration, Mike and John have gotten the lobbies to fit into the PS3’s system memory.

Here’s a short video of all three platforms, with working lobbies, playing together!

We initially expected the Limited Run Games edition of Skullgirls would ship in January 2017. However, due to the work needed to get lobbies running smoothly and a few bureaucratic snags, we can no longer guarantee that. We don’t have a new estimate at this point, but will let you know when we do.

The biggest issue at the moment is finalizing the Japanese voice-over licensing contract. This is mostly paperwork, but because it involves Arc System Works, Arc’s talent agency, and Autumn Games, coordinating and executing on that paperwork is taking longer than expected. The recent holiday has also slowed things down here.

The other major issue we’re facing right now has to do with Sony submission, specifically submitting a patched PS4 version of the game for physical production. This requires what is known as a “remaster,” which uses a slightly different and more complicated build process. And the remaster can only be tested after the final patch is tested, adding another step to the process.

Furthermore, the PS Vita doesn’t support remasters. In order to deliver the final patched version of the game on PS Vita, we’ll need to treat it like a separate product. The main difficulty here is linking this new product up to the other versions to make sure that they can all play together online, which has to be done both in code and through Sony’s backend services. The PS4 / PS Vita / PS3 cross-play took a while to set up the first time, and it may take some time to get this new version setup, too.

We originally we had planned to release the Japanese voices and lobby patch at the same time the physical version started shipping, but because of this unexpected delay, we’ll be splitting them into two patches.

Here’s the new plan:

The lobbies patches for PS3, PS4 and PS Vita will all be submitted to Sony US and EU by the end of the week, and will be made public as soon as they’re approved.

When Limited Run Games starts shipping the physical version, we’ll release the Japanese voice patch digitally for 2nd Encore on PS4, PS Vita and Steam. The physical version will already include the lobby and voice patches, and will not need to be updated.

We apologize for the delay, are are committed to getting this in your hands at the best possible quality, as soon as possible. While we’re dealing with these final hurdles, Lab Zero and Arc System Works continue to ensure that this is truly the final release.